Riot Games Rebrands EU LCS To LEC

Posted 2nd December 2018 By: Derpina&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp1 Views

Esports News – Riot Games rebrands and restructures European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) to LoL European Championship (LEC). The move was due to the organization’s decision to start a new franchise-style model for the European esports league’s new teams of the 2019 season, following the format of NA LCS last year.

Franchises and new teams

The LEC lists a total of 10 organizations:

Fnatic

FC Schalke 04

G2 Esports

Misfits Gaming

Vitality

Splyce

exceL Esports

Rogue

SK Gaming

Origen

Old franchises from the EU LCS (Fnatic, G2 Esports, Misfits, Schalke 04, Splyce, and Team Vitality) will retain their slot at the next tournament for an entry fee of €8 million. The new teams, consisting of Excel Esports, Origen, SK Gaming, and Rogue, are required to pay €10 million to get their spots.

The structure for LEC features revenue sharing, so there will be a minimum player salary increase from €24 thousand to €60 thousand yearly and other infrastructure investments in each player’s development. Moreover, the tier-two developmental or academy league from NA LCS will not be included. All regional competitions are handled by third-party organizations.

The new LoL league seeks to partner with other businesses outside esports. Major League Soccer, FIFA’s esports league in North America, is now preparing for the expansion. They will join EA Sports in 2019 with three new teams from Atlanta United, D.C. United, FC Cincinnati. Aside from the main tournament for LEC, the expansion teams will also compete in the eMLS cup and League series events.

Branding and organization

The tournaments will be hosted by the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, two top-rank American professional soccer franchises. Players from the 22 eMLS teams will participate in both events so they have two chances to execute impressive performances. The final result will determine the seeding for the 2019 eMLS Cup.

The LEC officially starts on January 18, 2019. The organization will continue to host its games in Berlin and introduces a newly franchised league that’s different from its North American counterpart. The new logo, a symbol representing two halves of a broken crown, will now stand as the official branding image of the tournament.